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James Cresswell
Overview James Cresswell was born on 92-08-08 on New Terra to Gregory Cresswell and Kofi Cresswell. He is the third in line of the Cresswell heritage and the only male of the third generation. Personality James falls under 'The Executive' personality band, valuing order and tradition. This comes mostly from his upbringing by his parents. His father was determined to shape James into the perfect successor. As the only male of his generation, the family line fell to him. Both his father and grand-father didn't want to see the family collapse upon their respective deaths. This had a profound impact on the environment upon which James grew up in. He was always being pushed to excel through his teens years, learning the importance of the family heritage as well as learning how to be hard-working and respectful. In his later years however, James started to show signs of duress with the weight of what he was being asked to hold. He had pushed himself hard to try and emulate the career of that of his grand-father, but he wasn't quite good enough to do that. Now James is constantly questioning himself and comparing himself to his forefathers. He tries to put on a brave face to people on the outside and to anyone of authority. Mainly to help uphold the family name. Early-Years Growing up, James had pretty much anything he desired. The family had substantial wealth and status and therefore James was spoilt, being the only child. When he was 5 his sister was born and the shift in focus had moved away from him. He still got what he wanted, but this shift left him feeling alone and abandoned. During this period his grand-father passed away as the life extension therapies were no longer working. His doesn't have many memories of his grand-father, only remembering that the funeral was large scale spectacle. James started school a year later and started to show some promise in academics mostly in the sciences. For a while his father had tried to push him towards more physical based pursuits, but James was more than content carrying on with just studying. He eventually passed school with top grades and got accepted into the Aldenhold Naval College on his own merits, without the help of his family. College-Years After arriving at Aldenhold Naval College, James began to realise the importance of the Cresswell name to the people of the Union. James was treated almost like a celebrity, and the status did go to his head for a while. During this time his father was concerned it would go too much to his head and he would start to become a entitled brat. To counter this, his father came down on James even harder, forcing him to study and trying his best to limit whatever influence the family could have on him. During college, James had been selected to embark on a course of study to fast track him for captaincy. James believed he had earned this on his own merit, however later discovered he had scored just below the mark to gain entry, and his father had used the family influence to get him on the course. Despite this, James was rather proficient at learning and passed the course and college with the highest grades of his class. Early Career Due to his college grades and fast tracking, James skipped quite a few ranks and started as a bridge officer right off the bat. This where James began to view the other side of the family name. Many around him were jealous, annoyed or envious of the fact he had leapt so far ahead. Some were snarky behind his back, others were just down right hostile. While the people at college respected the family heritage, on board a vessel it was more of a pick and mix situation. Despite this James knuckled down and worked hard to convince everyone that he was perfectly capable of doing his role. In doing so he began to slowly turn the crew to his side, however every time he was redeployed to a new ship the same cycle would start again. On his third deployment he was promoted to lieutenant and placed aboard the UNSF Valhalla as the ships Executive Officer. Mid Career He started his third deployment as the Executive Officer of the UNSF Valhalla. transitioning to working as a bridge crew member to someone of command was quite a easy transition for James. His father had been coaching him most of his life. His time aboard the Valhalla was a enlightening experience. Unlike previous ships, he had earned his position in the eyes of the crew and together he went on two successful tours with them. During this time he was able to get first hand experience of being a captain as the captain of the Valhalla: Captain Abernathy, was a reckless, adventurous individual who loved taking personal command of situation, leaving James to man the bridge. Just after his second tour with the UNSF Valhalla he was promoted to Lieutenant-Commander, only a stones throw away from Captain, and transferred to be the Executive Officer of the UNSF Winchester. In order to help avoid any incidents similar to those of his early career, he kept his rank mostly a secret, asking the captain to refer to him only as Lieutenant Cresswell. James had served a short, but again, successful deployment aboard the Winchester. He had now filled all of the conditions of the Captaincy course he took at college, serving as an XO on two ships. His next tour he would be a captain. The Apollyon Since you couldn't apply for a Captain-ship, it had to be given to you, James applied for the role of the Apollyon's Bridge Communications Officer. Expecting possibly to be awarded the Captain-ship. The role of Grand Admiral was being filled at the same time and within inner circles, James father was expected to become the second Cresswell to become Grand Admiral. It was expected that if his father became Grand Admiral he would appoint his son as Captain of the Apollyon. Fate took a different turn and for reasons unknown Admiral James Beaufort was appointed Grand Admiral. At this point, it was clear that Beaufort had a different candidate in mind for the Captains seat and that James was not going to get it. However, the admiralty were more than happy to give James a Captain-ship, hoping to transfer him as the Captain of the UNSF Tevura as Captain Maganza was departing. James's father, in another strange turn of fate, argued to keep James aboard the Apollyon as the second highest ranked officer. He argued that the experience would do him good, and that this positing was a once in a lifetime experience. There would be plenty of chances later for him to captain other ships.